CHR15

I like your set up! Is the tripod the standard skywatcher one which you colour coded red from white? Do the u clips you use keep the telescope and camera in focus, can you post a link to the ones you've used? Thanks.

That's a great idea, I still have to learn the best settings to use!

Nice shots, I stayed up a little later than normal to see the super nova a few nights ago. The asi air is a great device ain't it?

As I'm still new I don't know much about the different filters but I've not used any and I just focus on a bright star before starting. I guess they can be added at a later date if you wanted them. Oops, I forgot to put the counterweight on 😆 I set it up to show you how compact eea can be. I only use a 1 kg counter weight, the ao70500 doesn't weigh anything, I bought a new to me st80 recently and this lightweight too. With all the photos being took of the supernova in m101 I had to go and have a look! bearing in mind this is from an eaa perspective and not been through photoshop, gimp, etc.

I decided to see if I could catch the north american nebula using my asi585mc camera combined with my st80. Unfortunately I couldn't, I also overexposed albireo too. M13 was a good hit though, I like how this turned out.

Thanks for explaining things through thouroughly

Thanks for clearing up the bias question. I'll have to have a play with the histogram too. Left pointer, left of the peak and right pointer, either middle or right of the peak. At the moment I don't get hot pixels but it'll be good practice to take darks just to rule them out in future.

Thanks for the link regarding gain I shall have a read through it now. I'll remember now that streaks of colour are hot pixels and that darks will help to eliminate them. I don't seem to see them with this camera but I do have them in my asi178mc. Thanks for the compliment on my first try. I'm over the moon with how they've turned out. The more I do the better they'll get through experience and an understanding learned from research and of course you guys. I thought I must of over exposed Dubhe making it too bright and in turn causing the spike?

Thanks. I'll do some darks too. I think the gain was between 200-250. I do have a streetlight across the street unfortunately. I'll have to try experimenting now I've done all the messier targets in ursa major, although leo is positioned nicely too 😆 I'll have to try refocusing between targets and see if it helps. Should be plenty of time for the scope to cool down.

Thanks. Yes I'm using an achromatic refractor. What filter should I use for the bloating? The last photo is the ET cluster (ngc457). I shall try using flats. Is bias the same as taking darks but with the quickest exposure possible? These were all using the auto histogram on the asiair plus app. I'll have to have a play with the histogram. I have added the equipment above and the exposure times we 50 x 10 seconds for the galaxies. The stars were only single short exposures. What does the gain do?

Thanks. I've edited the equipment above. I will try doing some flats next time to lose the vignetting. I've read that my camera has zero amp glow. Does that mean I don't need darks? The second to last photo is Dubhe. It was pretty much at the zenith, it was in eq mode rather than alt az mode. I used a bahintov mask to try and focus, maybe too long exposure time on a bright star for photo number 9. The galaxy photos were around 50 x 10 second exposures.

Hi, I'm just getting started with eaa and I'm over the moon with the results I'm getting so far. I'm just wondering if I can enhance the images further without going down the post imaging route? I'm not sure what flats and darks are or how they work. Would they help? Should I do more exposures or less gain? Any advice from experienced to a beginner would be greatly appreciated. Here are a few photos I have taken. They seem a bit noisey/grainy? EDIT Equipment used skywatcher ao70500 and st80 Skywatcher azgti mount Skywatcher wedge Zwo asi585mc

I had exactly the same problem as you are facing! The problem for me was bad USB 3 cables. I bought the asiair plus unit and the 585mc new and both came with bad cables (they might even be USB 2 cables?). A quick way to tell is plug the USB 3 cable into a USB 2 slot. When I did this it worked. If this is the case just buy a cheap USB 3 cable off of Amazon.

I don't know much about e.a.a either. I basically type the target into goto and then press the camera button and wait for the details in the photo to come through. With each photo taken and automatically stacked the details get better and better.

Technology is always changing. I made the change because we have that much cloud and light pollution that I don't have much time to find and observe targets. And the fact you see much more without straining your eyes!

Hi lightfoot, I have literally just started electronically assisted astronomy. It involves a telescope, a motorised mount, a camera and a laptop, tablet or phone. Days are gone now of bending over to get a comfortable view in the eyepiece or straining my eyes trying to find targets, which I couldn't find most of the time as they were either to faint or because of bad light pollution. I went for the asi air plus as the computer as it has everything set up and ready to go out of the box (the red box sitting on top of the telescope in the photo). It also connects to your phone via a wireless connection. You can sit inside and view the images as they come through if you wanted to. My set up can easily be carried from one place to another without any hassle at all. It is a skywatcher 70mm refractor, skywatcher azgti mount, skywatcher wedge, zwo asi air plus and a zwo asi585mc. I only observe in the back garden for now but it's possible to buy a battery that will power the rig out in the field if you want to go mobile. This is well within your budget and you will see alot more than visual astronomy, plus its also an introduction to astrophotography.

I was also in the same situation. I went for the plus in the end because its meant to be quicker loading for eaa, but also if I wanted to go more sophisticated I wouldn't need to upgrade the device.

Thanks. That's how I set mine up yesterday afternoon. I was watching a video last night about how to polar align without seeing polaris. I guess it's just another way rather than just being one way.

This maybe a bit of a silly question but as a total newbie to eq mounts, when polar aligning, is it the mount that needs to be pointing towards polaris (the threaded bar of the counterweight pointing towards it) rather than finding polaris in the eyepiece in the telescope (what I usually do before laying the telescope horizontal and doing a north level alignment in alt az mode). I also have asiair plus which has polar alignment on it. If the camera takes photos to determine where it is pointing, obviously it won't be pointing at polaris. Is this correct? How does polar alignment work?

Following on from the diy counterweight...the official counterweight costs £35. I already had a dumbell weight so the overall cost of making my own was £10.91! Once you've set up your rig, do you leave it fully assembled or break it down?

The cost of buying potentially 2 counterweight kits to making my own makes the decision easy, especially as I already have 2×1kg dumbell weights

I never really thought of the diy way of doing it. I've already got a few dumbbell weights in the back of the wardrobe gathering dust! What kind of washers do you use?

There's an option to buy the bar that fits the azgti.

Thanks licho52, What's the weight of your set up?

@AstroNebulee @Elp I was thinking of getting this https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-1kg-counterweight-shaft-for-star-adventurer.html Would this be a good place to start or will the shaft be too short?